Newberg men killed in boating accident to be memorialized

Brent Wojahn/The OregonianA flag outside St. Peter Catholic Church in Newberg flies at half-mast today in honor of Rev. James Nibler, his brother, Lawrence, and Curtis Heuer, who all died in a boating accident Saturday

NEWBERG -- The lives of three Newberg men killed in a crabbing accident -- passionate outdoorsmen and devoted parishioners -- will be memorialized this weekend.

The Newberg community and the close-knit congregation of St. Peter Catholic Church will remember the Rev. James Nibler, 54, his older brother, Lawrence Nibler, 64, and Curtis Heuer, 62, in a memorial at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the church.

A mass of Christian burial for the three men is at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Mary's Catholic Cathedral in Portland. It will be preceded by a rosary at 10:30 a.m.

James Nibler -- Father Jim -- had guided the 360-family St. Peter parish since 2003. He became the church's sole pastor in 2004. He and Lawrence grew up in Newport, part of a large family that settled mostly in the Willamette Valley.

The three men were crabbing Saturday in Lawrence Nibler's 17-foot boat, near the mouth of the Columbia River. The boat capsized when a crab pot line became tangled in the outboard motor.

The bodies of Heuer and James Nibler were recovered. A search for Lawrence Nibler was called off late Saturday.

The Rev. Terry O'Connell, from McMinnville's St. James, led the Sunday service at St. Peter. Priests from other nearby parishes will continue to fill in at the Newberg church until June, when the archdiocese traditionally makes parish assignments, a church spokesman said.